While the second season of “Bridgerton” may not include the eye candy that Simon, played by Regé-Jean Page, provided in the first season, the second season continues the novel’s storyline as they focus on Viscount Anthony Bridgerton, played by Jonathan Bailey.
After watching his younger sister Daphne, played by Phoebe Dynevor, find love with the Duke of Hastings in season one, it is now Anthony’s turn to go on the courtship quest to find his viscountess in this new, enrapturing continuation of the Shondaland series.
Based on the second novel in the Bridgerton book series by Julia Quinn titled, “The Viscount Who Loved Me,” the season begins with the society debut of our new debutantes, Kate Sharma, played by Simone Ashley, and her younger sister Edwina Sharma, played by Charithra Chandran, alongside the familiar, strong-headed Eloise Bridgerton, played by Claudia Jessie.
The quintessential nobleman Anthony works on scouting out his potential viscountess, which he does with high expectations and a picky attitude before he meets the Sharma sisters and becomes enchanted by Edwina after she was named “the diamond of the season” by Queen Charlotte, played by Golda Rosheuvel.
To the frustration and lack of support by this season’s newest spitfire character Kate, viewers watch as she puts in the most effort to ensure that Anthony and Edwina are not set to be married, while also seeing a sense of jealousy and tension between her and Viscount throughout the season. As Edwina strives to become Anthony’s viscountess, Kate and Anthony butt heads while also resisting the inevitable lust and desire they have for each other.
This season not only taps into one of the most popular tropes of “enemies to lovers” with the love triangle between Anthony, Kate and an assuming Edwina, as well as the series-long mystery question asked by every character. “Who is Lady Whistledown?”
As revealed at the end of season one, we find out that Lady Whistledown, the Victorian-style “Gossip Girl” that always knows the low-down and latest drama, is in fact the bubbly and seemingly secretive Penelope Featherington, played by Nicola Coughlan. The dramatic irony of the situation gives the season the same suspenseful push it had in the previous season, but with even more drama while Penelope’s best friend Eloise strives to find out the identity of the anonymous writer while Penelope sneaks around her family and the rest of society to keep her identity at bay.
All in all, the second season of “Bridgerton” proved to be just as juicy and binge-worthy as season one was back in 2020. The two-year wait excited fans and viewers as many are pleasantly surprised with the way series creators were able to keep the show enticing and pick up with the same fervor that Daphne and Simon left off at the end of their love story.